


I'm Home

by MonPetitTresor



Series: Family Don't End With Blood [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supernatural
Genre: Arc Reactor, Dean's Deal, Hurt Sam, Hurt Tony, Lilith - Freeform, Tony Stark & Sam Winchester Friendship, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, post-Afghanistan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 19:05:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11191467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonPetitTresor/pseuds/MonPetitTresor
Summary: Tony returns after the events in Afghanistan (but before everything with Obie and the new suits) and makes a very important phone call. Set in the middle of the Iron Man movie, and before Dean's resurrection.





	I'm Home

There were a few things that Tony had to do when he got back home. The cheeseburger had come first, of course, and the press conference second, but the final thing on his agenda was easily the most important, even if it had to be put off till last. He couldn’t indulge in it until he was back at home and safely shut away in his labs where no one would be able to get to him or overhear what was about to happen. Tony had no doubts this wasn’t going to be easy.

First things first, he settled in to his stool and took a moment to greet not just JARVIS, but his bots as well, smiling at the rolled around him and poked at him in their own unique greeting. “Yeah, yeah.” Patting a hand on his arm, he shook his head. “Calm down, kiddos, Daddy’s home again.”

“They have missed you, Sir.” JARVIS said. “We all have.”

Tony sent a smirk up to a nearby camera. “J, you’re getting sentimental on me.”

“My deepest apologies, Sir.”

God, it felt good to be back in here! To be sitting in the safety of his own lab where he knew nothing and no one was going to be able to get in at him. Not even the well-meaning people who just wanted to make sure he was okay. Tony had locked down everything. No one, not even Pepper, was getting in right now. There was only one person who had codes that would let them bypass all that and come in, and that person was the one that Tony desperately wanted to talk to. First, though, he had to find out just what had happened while he was gone. “All right, J, catch me up.”

Thank God JARVIS knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t talking about stupid things. First, he ran down a list of important things for SI, though Tony only barely paid attention to those. Then he got to the most important thing, the one thing that Tony had really held on to when he’d been inside those caves fighting for his life.

“I have spoken with the young master on multiple occasions during your time away.” JARVIS said, as diplomatic as ever. “He is… surviving, I believe you would say, though I have concerns for how well. I have talked him through a few panic attacks during our phone calls.”

Tony winced at that. He knew Sam was kind of prone to those. He had been since Tony had first met him. It was amazing just how steady Sam could be during a hunt or something like that. But away from it all, when he was alone and free to let down his walls, it all tended to crash in on him. More than once Tony had sat at the kid’s side and helped him to calm down, either after a panic attack or after a nightmare, even. Lifting a hand, Tony rubbed at his face. “So Dean didn’t make it, then.”

“No, Sir.”

“Damn.” And Tony hadn’t been here to yank Sam away and keep him safe. “How stupid has he gotten, J?”

There was a short pause. “On a scale of one to you, Sir, I believe he’s at about an eight.”

The deliberate sarcasm in that was enough to make Tony smile. He loved when JARVIS got sassy with him. It was one of his favorite traits no matter how often he mock-scolded him for it. Now was no exception, either. “That hurts, J. That really hurts.”

“I’m quite sure, Sir.”

“All right, all right. Pull up the kid’s latest number and give him a call.” Rubbing absently around the large piece of metal in his chest, he quickly added “No video, J. The last thing he needs right now is to see this thing.” It’d only worry Sam all the more. Plus, to be honest, Tony didn’t want to answer questions about it. Not yet. Not until – well, just _not yet_.

After a few rings, a tired voice sounded through Tony’s labs. “ _Hey, J. What do you got for me?_ ”

“Is that how you greet the kid?” Tony asked. He kept his tone light and smiled, knowing that Sam would be able to hear it. “He calls you up and all you’ve got to say is ‘what do you got for me’? Not even a ‘how are you, J’, or a ‘Is everything okay, J?’. No, no, just right to it, huh? I thought you were better than that, Winchester. That’s no way to treat your nephew.”

The line went so quiet Tony would’ve been sure the call had been dropped if it hadn’t been for the fact that he knew that JARVIS would’ve told him. The silence was finally broken by a soft, slightly shaky “ _Tony?_ ”

“Hey, pipsqueak.”

Sam exhaled roughly and then sucked in another breath, shakier than the last. There was a sound in there that was perilously close to a sob. “ _You made it home?_ ” Sam’s voice was just as shaky as his breathing. “ _J, it’s really…?_ ”

“It is indeed him, young sir.” JARVIS reassured him immediately. “Not only has he made it past the devil’s traps and salt lines that are built into the house, he has also touched quite a bit of silver here in his office, though he has not cut himself on any of it. None of my scans are showing anything that would indicate he is something supernatural in origin. It is, indeed, Sir.”

The fact that JARVIS had scanned him to make sure was no real surprise. Neither was Sam’s instinctive need to check. Tony had been prepared for that. What he hadn’t been prepared for was the sob that Sam let out next, or how it made Tony’s heart clench down underneath the arc reactor. “ _Oh God._ ” Sam choked out. There was more movement, the sound of rustling cloth, and then Sam’s voice again, quieter than before “ _Oh God._ ”

Tony’s first reaction was to make a smart remark. It was just how he dealt with things, always. He didn’t do the whole emotional… thing. But, hell, this was Sam, and Sam needed t. He needed the ability to feel things without being told to shut up about it. So Tony forced down his instinctive sarcastic remarks and tried to choose his words a lot more carefully. “It’s all right, Sam. I’m all right. I’m home.”

“ _Don’t you ever scare me like that again, you asshole_.” Sam gasped out.

One corner of Tony’s mouth curved up. “I love you too, sugar bean.” Just like he wanted, the teasing words had Sam letting out a wet sounding chuckle. Letting Sam ‘feel his feelings’ was all well and good – letting him dwell in them was another matter entirely. Before Sam could push too much, or start to ask the kinds of questions that Tony wasn’t entirely sure he’d be able to answer quite yet, he asked “How you holding up there, kid? JARVIS caught me up on all the local gossip.”

“ _I’m fine._ ” Sam said instantly.

Rolling his eyes, Tony scoffed. “Right. About as fine as I am, I bet.” The words were a lot more honest than Tony would’ve usually given someone, and there were a few people he knew would be surprised by how candid he was being. “Did you forget who you’re talking to here? I’m pretty confident in saying there’s no one except your other brother who knows you better than I do.”

Sam, the devious little shit, of course tried to sidestep any talk about himself, which could either be trying to hide how bad he was really doing, or was just his natural caring side showing through. “ _You shouldn’t be focusing on me right now, Tone. You need to focus on you. How are you_?”

“Meh. I’m home. I’ve had a few cheeseburgers. I’m good. I’m more concerned about you right now.”

“ _Tone_ …”

Tony rolled his eyes again. His tone was a bit gentler when he spoke, though. “I’m fine, pipsqueak. Am I happy? No. Am I healthy? Probably not. But I’m fine. I’m home. That’s what matters, right?”

He heard Sam sigh. There was the sound of shuffling in the background and Tony almost wished he’d actually made this a video call instead of a regular call. Something about Sam, it didn’t seem quite right. But then the kid spoke again and Tony pushed those worries aside. “ _You want me to come out there?_ ” The offer was pure, gentle Sam, always more concerned for everyone else, and hearing that tone from him eased some of Tony’s worries. If he could still manage to sound like that he couldn’t be that bad off.

It was tempting to say yes. To get Sam out here like he’d originally planned to do before. Only, things were different now, and for the next little while the press was going to be all over Tony, watching him like a hawk, as were quite a few other people. It was quite possibly the worst time for Sam to come visit. Doing so would put the kid in a lot of danger and risk him being arrested. He was still wanted by the FBI, after all. Or, did they think he was dead? Tony wasn’t sure which. Either way, having him here would likely end up with him caught on camera, and that wouldn’t end well for anyone. So, much as it pained him to do it, he had to turn him down. “Nah, I’m fine. We’re a bit too hectic around here right now, anyways, and the last thing you need is your face plastered on TV. Tell you what, though, once things settle down out here I’ll have you out and you can come and see the new project I’m working on.”

“ _I can’t wait._ ”

“Now, tell me how you are before I have to get Rhodey to help me stealth my way to wherever you are and get my answers that way.”

“ _I’m… surviving._ ” Sam said slowly. There was a hint of something harder in his voice, an edge that Tony had only ever heard once before, just briefly after the whole Mystery Spot fiasco. “ _It hurts, Tone. I won’t lie. Dean’s… Dean’s dead, and it’s my fault. But I’m not giving up on him. Maybe I couldn’t break his deal, but there’s nothing saying I can’t get him back somehow. I’m going to find that bitch that has his contract and I’m going to kill her, no matter what it takes, and before I do she’s going to tell me how to get him home. I’m not giving up on him!”_

The words were said with the air of someone who was fully expecting to have to fight. Like he expected Tony was going to try and argue with him or try to stop him somehow. Tony knew better, though. For one, he knew Sam was a stubborn bastard, and nothing Tony said to him was going to make him stop. It’d only push him away and that was the last thing that the kid needed, especially since he was betting that that had already happened with others. He also knew that, if the roles were reversed, he’d be doing the same thing. If he knew that Sam was in Hell after making a deal for _him_ , there was very little Tony wouldn’t do to bring him back. He could admit that. “I’m not asking you to.” He said honestly. “JARVIS and I will see what we can do on our end. He’s caught me up on some of what he’s been doing for you on this end. I’ll put my brain to it and see what I can come up with. If there’s a way to bring him back, we’ll find it, Sam.”

The stunned silence that come over the line was almost palpable. When Sam spoke again, he sounded so young. Almost like he had back when Tony had first met him. Just an kid who’d seen too much but was still so innocent. That innocent edge had been slowly fading this past year. To hear it now, hear it echo in the soft “ _Really?_ ” was painful.

“Yeah. What, you think I’m going to let you have all the fun out there, Sasquatch? Yeah, right. Now, why don’t you tell me all you’ve learned about Lilith, and we’ll see if I can write up a program to help track her down.”

By the time the two hung up, some of the tension inside of Tony had eased a little. He’d been wanting nothing more than to speak to the kid since he’d gotten back to the states. Worry for Sam had stayed with him his entire time in those caves. Those worries had given him something to latch on to; another reason to fight to get home. Now that he had those worries at least a little muted – though not gone entirely – he sat there staring at the table in his labs, all alone in his house and wondering if maybe he should’ve found a way to sneak the kid out here after all. The idea of going upstairs and sleeping alone in that giant bed, where he knew the nightmares would be waiting for him, made his stomach churn.

“JARVIS.” He called out suddenly, pushing back from his desk. “Pull up the specs for the arc reactor…”

If he wasn’t going to sleep, he might as well get to work. The arc reactor in his chest wasn’t the most perfect of designs. He’d built that with minimum supplies and a short deadline. Now that he was home, it was time for an upgrade.


End file.
